


Mine

by J_P_Lupine



Series: Original Works [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Biting, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fantasy, Growling, Hunters, NSFW, Oral Sex, Purring, Red Riding Hood Elements, Vaginal Fingering, Werewolf Hunters, Werewolves, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-30 00:59:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20805881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_P_Lupine/pseuds/J_P_Lupine
Summary: "Big bad wolf you say? Please, what has the wolf ever done wrong? Oh, the three little pigs? Come on, it was the natural order of things, the predator eats its prey. You don't get mad at man for eating animals, so why the wolf?" I said in the middle of the lecture. "I mean, if you wanna use another fairy tale, let's use Red Riding Hood. In the original, Red ate Grandma with the wolf." People gave me various looks ranging from irritation to disgust.(P.S. I started this one a few years ago and kind of forgot about it)(Published Date: Aug 02, 2017)





	1. Standing Out (Rewritten)

"Big Bad Wolf you say? Please, what has the wolf ever done wrong? Oh, the three little pigs? Come on, it was the natural order of things, the predator eats its prey. You don't get mad at man for eating animals, so why the wolf?" I said in the middle of the lecture. "I mean, if you wanna use another fairy tail, let's use Red Riding Hood. In older versions, Red ate Grandma _with_ the wolf." People gave me various looks ranging from irritation to disgust. Not caring, I stood up while pointing towards the front. "It isn't right to call him the 'Big Bad Wolf'," I said. "not unless you're going to call yourself the 'Big Bad Human' from now on. Now, if you want to say the wolf is a symbolism for something, again this is a very skewed depiction with how wolves truly are."

The man stopped writing on the chalkboard and slowly turned around to look at me. His face showed plain irritation as he dropped the chalk on his desk.

"If you don't like my lecture, then why did you enroll into this class? Hmm? To interrupt every time I say something you don't like? Or to just disrupt this whole class? Every time you have these outbursts, you waste everyone's time, including your own, and the only thing you accomplish doing is making a fool of yourself." The teacher glared at me. "Now, either shut your mouth and sit down, or get out of my classroom." Grabbing my bag out of the seat next to me, I stood to my full height.

"No, sir, I do not make a fool of myself. You just see me as a fool because I speak the truth that goes against what you've been raised to think." I looked at the faces of the other students in the large room. "You are nothing but sheep, following the plan a shepard has set out for you instead of thinking for yourselves. You're told something, and you blindly believe it- even if it isn't true." Looking back to the teacher, he looked even angrier. "Tell me whatever you like, but I am no sheep- I do not blindly follow others even when I am told to do so, I proudly walk my own path. Even if that means I am alone." And with that, I walked out of the room.

Grumbling under my breath, I watched the ground as I walked to make sure I didn't trip over anything. The black tiled floor reflected the lights above, and I was walking down the hall towards the parking lot. If I they wanted me gone, what was there to keep me here?

"Huh?" I was stopped by a hand on my arm and turned around, seeing someone I would least expect to be stopping me. He was the boy that sat by himself at the back of the class and talked to no one. He was the boy that no one knew anything about, and he always was early to class and always early to leave when the bell rang. His hair was messy, black, and reached below his jaw. His eyes were the color of ice, and he seemed able to look right through you....

"Wait...." His voice was so deep, so clear, and it sent a shiver down my spine. His grip on my arm didn't loosen and he was looking me right in the eye.

"What?" I gulped. His skin was kissed by the sun, and from how close he was I could see he was actually quite handsome under all his hair.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Stella Chervil." I answered after a second of hesitation. "Yours?" I managed to ask.

"Dakota Woods." His face was so blank and void of emotion as he spoke. Dakota let me go and turned to walk away.

"Hey!" He turned around slowly and looked at me. "Why'd you want to know my name?" And I suddenly found myself with my back against the wall as a hand slammed down next to my head.

"Because," I looked up at him and saw a smirk on his face and an alluring look in his eyes. "I like to know the name of my prey." He whispered in my ear, another shiver went down my spine, and I felt something wet on my cheek as he licked me.

"Wha-what are you doing?!" I pushed his face away while wiping off my cheek. I could feel my face turning red, and he grabbed my wrist to move my hand away from my face.

"Meet me outside during lunch break tomorrow." Dakota said lowly and I heard a chuckle before he kissed the palm of my hand. _'What the Hell is going on?!'_ I thought and Dakota walked off with a wave over his shoulder. "Don't forget, or I'll hunt you down." His voice sounded like he was telling the truth and taunting at the same time. In all my life, no one had ever done what that boy just did to me, ever. People were more likely to call me a freak, or tell me that I was weird due to my different views on things. And just before he went back to the class, I realized something.

Dakota was no sheep. He was a wolf in sheep's clothing.


	2. At The Diner (Rewritten)

Fresh out of the shower, I sat on my couch and turned on the TV. What was I going to do? Should I go and see Dakota tomorrow? Or should I stay home? Sighing, I couldn't decide on what to do. Everyone, including myself, thought that Dakota was the quiet, wallflower type of person. But after what happened earlier today, I had the feeling he was more animalistic and wild, maybe even fearless. Shameless, for sure. He didn't care about licking a stranger on the face, nor did he mind kissing someone's hand in the middle of a public hallway.

I felt my cheeks redden at the memory of the man pinning me to the wall. In all honesty, I didn't dislike it. His voice was enough to send shivers down my spine, and his eyes were beautiful, especially when they actually seemed to look right at me instead of through me. '_Wait....'_ My mind whispered._ 'Did he just ask me out?!' _I sat straight up on the couch.

"No, that can't be....there's no way." I mumbled to myself. "Yeah, he probably has an opinion on what I said that he wants to share." Sighing, I slouched back into the couch. "That's probably all it is." Then I raised a brow. _'So....maybe I should go? I mean, why not hear him out?'_

The next morning, I woke up and did my morning routine, then read a book to pass the time until lunch. When the time came for me to leave, I grabbed some clothes and threw them on, put my off-white hair into a low ponytail, then grabbed my keys before locking up my house.

Driving to campus, I parked my car next to a black dirt bike coated in dust and mud. Getting out of my vehicle, I raised my head and looked at all the students who were eating lunch outside and heading to their rides to go out and eat. My pale green eyes were trying to spot the dark haired male, but in the sea of people, I couldn't find him.

"Stella!" His voice rang out, silencing conversations as they looked for the source of the voice. Dakota had on a blank face as he raised a hand to let me know where he was. Walking over to him as he was leaning against a tree, his backpack hung limply from one shoulder.

"So, what did you want?" I asked while crossing my arms as I stood in front of him. He smirked slightly while slipping off his bag and unzipping it. He pulled out a black motorcycle helmet. "What does that have to do with anything?" My brows furrowed. "I thought you wanted to talk to me about something." Dakota smirked again before standing off of the tree.

"Well, you were wrong. I'm taking you on a date." He calmly stated while dropping the helmet onto my head. "Now come on before I lick you again." He flatly said as he walked off, and a group of people on a picnic blanket heard him. They all exchanged glances before looking from Dakota to me. He didn't even seem to notice, and I quickly followed him, glad that the helmet was covering my red face. Dakota swung a leg over the dirt bike that was next to my car.

"That's yours?"

"Obviously." He pat the seat behind him. "Get on."

"But isn't that for only one rider?" I questioned.

"Then you better hold on tight." He smirked. "Hurry up before I die of old age."

"But you don't have a helmet...."

"And? I've never had one." He reached over and grabbed my wrist, pulling me behind him. "Get on." Dakota chuckled as I carefully slid onto the bike behind him. "You have to hold on right here." He grabbed my hands and placed them on his torso before he grabbed the handlebars and kicked back the stand. _'Wait, he's never had a helmet....?'_ I thought when I noticed just how well the helmet fit me.

My hands turned to fists as I gripped onto him tightly when he zoomed out of the parking lot. I had to cling to him to make sure I didn't fall off the bike, and I was 100% certain he was speeding.

"Hey, you don't have to hold on so tightly!" Dakota said over the roar of the wind and engine.

"Bite me! I'm not gonna fall off!" I screamed.

"I just might, later...." He chuckled and took a sharp turn as my grip on him got even tighter.

I didn't even notice when he stopped and shut off the bike. But I did notice when he touched my hands, and that made me realize it was safe to get off of the dirt bike. Nearly jumping off after snatching away my hands, I tossed off the helmet and set my hands on my knees as I took in deep breaths.

"Never been on a bike before, huh?" Dakota asked with a laugh.

"No shit, you lunatic." I saw the grass beneath my feet, and focused on that until my breathing would even out.

"Are you afraid of high speeds by any chance?" He asked.

"No, Dakota, I'm not." I growled while turning towards him, and he was standing closer than I thought he had been.

"That's good, because I like things fast...." He trailed off and I felt hands on my hips. He smirked as his hands slid to the lower curve of my back. "....and hard...." Dakota pulled me against him, smirking as he looked down at me from his height.

"Yeah, well, I don't." I said with flushed cheeks as I pushed him away. "I prefer things at my own pace and quite easy, thank you very much." Dakota chuckled and bent over to pick up the helmet and put it into his backpack.

"You won't be thinking like that for long." He slung the bag onto his shoulders. "Come on, this place has the best food." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder to the building behind him. Sighing, I silently followed him inside. Out the corner of my eyes, I saw my reflection of white hair with sea-foam green streaks sticking up in many places off of the glass door. Quickly fixing my hair, Dakota led my to a booth near the back.

Inside was set up like a diner with the red stools at the bar and the wood paneled walls. There were many pictures of people and food all over the walls, even paintings of various animals ranging from white-tailed deer to bears to wolves. In my opinion, the place was nice....except for the stares.... There were so many people staring at Dakota and I....or was it just me they were staring at....?

"Gina, can I get a menu over here?" Dakota glanced back at a woman in a uniform and apron. She smiled at him, but she quickly frowned at me. Did I do something wrong? She nodded and came over, dropping a menu right in front of me.

"What do you want to drink?" She asked flatly, pulling out a pen and tablet. Her hazel eyes looked down at me, and her hair was in a bun with her bangs spiked to the side. Her hair was a lighter shade of black than Dakota's and had purple stripes in it. She had darker skin than Dakota, and I felt extremely pale next to these two.

"Water is fine." I said quietly, not wanting to make things worse since it seemed as if I had offended everyone in the diner aready.

"It'll take a minute until I bring it out. You have until then to decide on what you want." She left, and I looked at Dakota.

"Did I do something wrong....?" I whispered across the table.

"No, it's just rare to get a new face in here." He grinned. "So, check out what they got, I already know what I'm ordering." The man told me. Giving one more glance to where the woman had disappeared to, I opened up the menu and looked at all the options. Most of the choices were various types of meats, but there were also drinks, side dishes, sweets, and even breakfast choices.

"So, what do you want?" The woman with dark hair slammed the cup of water onto the table, and I nearly jumped out of my skin because I hadn't even heard her come over.

"Um....I'll take some meat pie...." I mumbled. She wrote it down before looking at Dakota.

"The usual." He gave a nod of his head, and the woman walked away again.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked.

"I told you that I was taking you out on a date." Someone from a few tables over choked on their drink, coughing as the person next to them helped them out.

"Yeah, but why? We don't even know each other...."

"So? Dates are how people get to know each other." He stated. "I found you interesting, so, here we are, getting to know one another." He smirked. "Let's start with the basics, you can go first."

"Basics?" He nodded.

"Favorite color, food, animal, that sort of stuff." He sighed while putting an elbow on the back of the booth. "Haven't you ever been on a date before?"

"Honestly, no, I haven't. You're the first to show even the slightest bit of interest in me." He shrugged.

"Well, that means I'll be the first to get to know you." He grinned. "Now, go on, tell me the basics about you."

"Um....well, my favorite color is black, but if you consider it a shade instead of a color, then dark grey.... I love Salisbury steak, my favorite animal is a wolf, I don't think I have a favorite among sweets, they are all amazing, uh...." I was thinking. "I prefer the supernatural or horror side of movies, my favorite being a tie between _Dog Soldiers,_ _Skinwalkers,_ and the _Underworld _series. Hmm, I think my favorite book is either _The Wolf's Hour_, or _Blood and Chocolate. _Is that all of the basics?" I asked.

"No, but it'll do. I see you have a fascination with werewolves...." He trailed off and I felt my cheeks go pink.

"Y-yeah....they've held my interest since I was pretty young." _'Because of my grandma....'_ I added mentally.

"Really?" He smirked at me. "What's your opinion on them?"

"Simply put? Best hunters. Ever." I could feel myself relaxing a little in the booth. "I mean, in most mythology they have the mind and body of _both_ humans and wolves, do you realize how smart they would be? How strong? They could probably take down a room full of people in just a few seconds." Sighing, I stared at the table. "To me, werewolves are pretty badass, but they also kind of scare me for the same reasons I like them. On the other hand, I don't get some of their portrayals in books and movies. I mean, who would want to eat a human? Yeah, I know- easy prey, but even wild animals rarely eat people, so why in Hell would a werewolf? Killing a human is understandable, but eat? I don't know.... But how cool would it be if they were real?" I looked up when I felt a smile on my face. "Oh, no, I'm ranting aren't I?"

"No, not at all." Dakota grinned at me. "So, what do you think they look like?" I furrowed my brows.

"I dunno, some have said werewolves are more humanoid, others have said more wolf like, a few even described them as giant wolves. But I think the giant wolves were probably skinwalkers or other shape shifters rather than werewolves...." I mumbled the last part.

"Hmm, well, what about other things? How do you feel about vampires?"

"Eh, they're okay. No pun intended, but they kinda suck. Though, that's just my personal opinion." I shrugged. "What about you? What's your basics?" I took a drink of my water.

"Well, my favorite color is your eyes, actually, and my favorite food just might be you." He smirked while leaning over the table, and I felt my cheeks turn red. "So, why'd you dye your hair?" He gently grabbed some of my off-white and sea-foam locks and looked at it. "I liked it when it was that strawberry color, it made you stand out. Not that this color doesn't, but this is from a bottle." He tilted his head while looking at me and smirking. "You know, you're cute when you're blushing- it makes your freckles stand out."

"S-so, what made you take interest in me? I mean, it's not like I'm the most normal chick...." I asked in a low voice while avoiding eye contact.

"That's exactly why. How did you say it yourself? _'I am no sheep'_, was it?" Dakota chuckled.


	3. Eyes In The Dark (Rewritten)

The black and purple haired woman came back and set the food on the table. She seemed a bit nicer now than before, but I still had my guard up. Gina eyed me until I took a bite- actually, everyone in there seemed to be watching me. My eyes widened and I looked at Dakota, who was giving my the same look as the waitress.

"This is amazing!" He grinned and grabbed his own fork.

"I told you this place had the best food." And he began to eat his own food.

"Yeah, but that's what most people say when they tell me to try new food from some place." I said before taking another bite.

"Well, why would I lie on our first date?" He smirked. "Here, try this." He held up some of his own food.

"I'm good, the meat pie is enough." I said while looking down and Dakota chuckled.

"Try it before I lick you." I glared at him- I knew it wasn't an empty threat, he'd already licked me before.

"Whatever." I grumbled and leaned over the table. Taking a bite, I went wide eyed again. "How is all the food here so amazing?!" There was a hint of shock in my voice.

"They have great cooks, that's how." Dakota replied. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" He asked nonchalantly.

"I have to take my cousin to see her boyfriend...." I sighed. "She doesn't have a car and I don't trust her with mine overnight."

"It's an overnight trip?" He asked with a sharp voice. Glancing up, I saw his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah, she's staying the night with him while I have to go get a motel room." 

"Oh." He simply said and we went back to eating.

"So, do you usually threaten to lick your date whenever they won't do something you tell them?" I smirked. "You didn't seem like the person that would do that."

"No, you're the first." He leaned back. "Most people do what I tell them the first time." Dakota tilted his head at me. "And what do you mean by I _'didn't seem like the person that would do that'_?"

"Well, in class, you never talk to anyone, you keep to yourself, and well, you were acting kind of like a loner."

"And that's coming from you?" He smirked. "I only talk to people that interest me, such as yourself."

After we finished eating and some more talking, Dakota took me back to the school parking lot and parked next to my car. Handing him the helmet, he stopped me.

"Keep it for when I take you on a ride. So, I guess I'll see you the next time you're free?" He raised a brow in questioning.

"Maybe." I gave a soft smile. "You might be interesting enough for a second date." Dakota chuckled and I felt a hand grab the front of my shirt and pull.

"Be careful with what faces you make, Stella," The way he said my name sent a shiver down my spine. "you just might get kissed." His face was so close that our noses were touching, and I could feel his breath on my skin. His icy eyes were like pools of crisp, clear water, and his lips were curled into a Cheshire-like grin. My face was probably beet red, and Dakota let me go while chuckling. "See you around, Stella." He said before returning to school.

Leaning against my car, I had to let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding. What was this man? His effects on me were like magic spells, it was so different from what I had ever felt before and I still didn't really know him....

~

Stepping out onto the back porch, I looked up at the clear night sky. The stars dotted the midnight blue, and the moon was big, round, and bright. Leaning against the railing, I sighed while looking out over my yard and to the woods just behind the house. My property line ended right after the first line of trees, but that didn't keep me out of the woods. I'd have picnics out there every now and then, or I'd just go out there to explore or to think. But it was too chilly for that now, the proof was the pale cloud coming from my mouth as I breathed out in the night air. It was nearly spring, so there were still chilly days, cool nights, and in-between hours with the weather.

I felt the goosebumps rising on my skin since I was out here in a tank-top, but I didn't think it was cold enough for a jacket. A clear howl rang out in the night, and I grinned. I only moved into this house because it was so close to the woods, and there was a pack of wolves beyond the treeline. The fact that it was cheap was just a perk.

Glancing into the trees, I put my chin into my hand. It was dark, but my eyes were adjusted to the little amount of light, so I could see somewhat into the woods. The clouds from my mouth paused as I held my breath. Narrowing my eyes, I blinked to make sure I wasn't seeing things. 

Sure enough, there was a pair of glowing ice colored eyes staring at me from the shadows of the trees. I slowly stood up all the way, and the eyes followed. There was a howl far off, and the eyes blinked, turning a yellow-ish orange color and I took in a sharp breath. Shaking my head, I looked again, and the eyes were still there. They must have been reflecting light when they looked blue, that would explain them seeming to change color.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and went inside. Climbing into bed, I knew I'd never forget how close the the edge of the trees those eyes were. Whatever it had been was nearly in my yard, but it was most likely one of the wolves that had wandered to the outskirts of the woods. Anyhow, it would be gone in the morning, so there was no use worrying about it too much. 


	4. Claimed In The Library

Driving to my cousin's house, I parked in the driveway and let the engine continue running as I pulled out my phone from my pocket. There was no way I was going to the door to let her know of my arrival, the other people in her house made me feel uneasy.... So, texting her, I waited until she came bustling out the front door of the large house with a suitcase in hand.  
She had on a great big grin as she bounded to the car. Opening the door, she slid into the passenger seat and put the suitcase in the floorboard. Raising her head, she gave me a look.

"Ready for this weekend?" She asked.

"Yup." I said while popping the 'p'. Regina, my cousin, was quite a bright person. She was the type to make friends in the elevator, and I used to envy her when we were kids because she always had so many friends.

"Did you remember you're swimsuit?" She asked while buckling in.

"I'm not going swimming with you guys."

"But it's an indoor pool! There's even a hot tub." Regina looked at me.

"And? I don't feel like swimming, I've got some other things I gotta do, anyways." I backed out of the driveway while looking back.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Stuff." I answered simply before driving away from the house. She sighed and shook her head.

"You gotta let loose sometimes, Stella. Learn to relax, you don't have to be such a busy-bee all the time." Regina then leaned forward and turned on the radio. _Korn_ came blaring through the speakers, and Regina gave me a look. "Not while I'm here." She smirked and changed the station. This time, _Talking Body_ filled the car and Regina rolled down the window while relaxing in her seat.

I smirked while shaking my head at her. She was also kind of a free spirit, and that was sort of what allowed me to be able to handle her unlike the rest of my family. Her hair was the color of chocolate while her eyes were a darker shade of green than mine. She was dressed in denim short-shorts, revealing her tan legs, but she also had on a striped long sleeved shirt and boots.

Driving down the road, I was behind the wheel for two hours until we arrived at Regina's boyfriend's house. Parking, I followed Regina to the front door of the large, lavish home. She rang the doorbell, and someone answered a few seconds later. A man with mocha eyes and sandy blonde hair opened the door and smiled at Regina as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Alright, package has been delivered." I said while stepping off the porch. "I'm off now."

"Stella! Don't you want to meet him first? Maybe even stay a little while?" Regina asked.

"Oh, so you're the Stella I've heard so much about?" The man grinned and held a hand out towards me. "The name's James Benedict."

"Good to meet you." I said while taking his hand. Looking him in the eye, I tightened my grip. "If any harm comes to Regina, I'll skin you alive with a rusty butter knife." I warned him, and Regina sighed while pushing me away.

"God, Stella, why do you always threaten people? Can't you just trust I'll be okay?" She put her hands onto her hips. "You're like my father." She smirked.

"Well, someone's gotta warn him before he thinks of doing anything." I said bluntly. "And I'm not kidding about the skinning." My eyes went to James. "She better be in the same condition when I pick her up as when I dropped her off." I pointed to my cousin before she waved me off with a smile. Going down the steps from the porch, I put my hands into my pockets.

"Well," James coughed. "that's intimidating...." Regina giggled, and I went to my car. Driving away, I looked for a motel to stay at for the night.

~

"So, how'd it go?" A voice said over my shoulder, making me jump in surprise as I was fixing the books on the shelf. Turning around as the male chuckled, I glared.

"How'd what go?" I asked. He knelt down next to me and began to rearrange the books on the shelf.

"Your weekend with the cousin and her boyfriend." Working next to Dakota, we were putting the books back into order.

"Why are you so curious about it?" I raised a brow.

"I'm not, just trying to make conversation." He answered. A few seconds after, though, he asked again. "So, how was it?"

"Boring." I rolled my eyes. "Stayed at the motel the whole time after I dropped her off." Picking up more books, I placed them into their rightful spots on the shelf.

"Pity, you should have taken me with you."

"Why the Hell should I have done that?" I asked.

"Because you would have had some entertainment." His voice whispered in my ear. "Trust me, you wouldn't have been bored if I had gone with you." And Dakota's hand was on my lower back. Smacking his hand off me, I glared at him again with pink dusted cheeks.

"Yeah, right." I said sarcastically. Standing up, I pushed the book cart a bit over and began to work on the next shelf in the library.

"Anyhow, you're free tonight, right?" He asked while leaning on the shelf in front of me.

"No, I have to fix the mess the others made when they put up the books in here. It's like they don't know how to read the damn stickers." I grumbled while rearranging books and putting up books that got turned in.

"Then why don't I help you? It'll make things go faster." Dakota suggested. Narrowing my eyes at him, I looked him in the eye.

"You really want to help?"

"Why not?" He shrugged.

"And you can read these stickers?" I asked while pointing to the white sticker at the bottom of the spine on the book.

"Yes." He chuckled while grabbing the book from my hand and putting it in the right spot on the shelf. "You can get the lower shelves since you're shorter, and I'll get the higher shelves since I'm taller." He smirked.

"I guess that makes sense...." I thought about the pros and cons of having him help me. "Well, it can't hurt if you know what you're doing." Sighing, I pointed to the book cart. "That half go on your shelves while this half goes on mine."

"Got it." Dakota turned around and began to rearrange the books on the top shelf while placing books in their right places off of the cart. Doing the same thing, I realized over time, things definitely went faster with him helping me. When we were working in the horror section of the library, I found myself even more irritated.

"These books aren't even horror!" I said while pulling books off the shelf. "And they aren't even by the same author, why are they even side by side?" Glaring down at the books, I looked at their stickers again to make sure where they went. "Geez, can't people put these books in their right sections at least?" Grumbling, I took the romance novels out of the horror section and went to the front desk.

"Who was working the night I was gone?" I asked the head librarian. He looked up at me from his computer screen.

"Is something wrong, Stella? Besides the obvious." He said, referring to how all the books were out of order.

"Yes, they put these books in the horror section." I showed him the titles, and he rose from his chair. Looking around the library, he pointed out a person and gave me a look.

"Go easy this time, please. I like having you working here, but if I have to give you another suspension, I might have to fire you." He said with a sincere look. I nodded and walked across the library to the girl sitting at a table putting library book slips into the new books or the books that needed new ones.

She had dark brown hair, and her light brown eyes were looking down at the books she was working on. Placing the books onto the table in front of her, I put a hand over them and looked down at her since she was sitting.

"Can I help you?" She raised a brow at me, and I saw her name tag stating she was called Lacy.

"Yeah, you can, Lacy." I glared at her. "I'm the one who has to fix your mess since you don't know how to read damn stickers on book spines, and I now have to put books in their right sections because you didn't even do that right." She gave me a disgusted look and looked me up and down.

"Excuse me, but** I **put books in the sections they belong in."

"Really?" I raised a brow. "Then why were these romance books in among the horror section?" She looked at the books under my hand and rolled her eyes.

"Because I've actually read those, and they were horrifying. I mean, she hooked up with the wimpy, nerdy kid in that one, and the girl turned down the chance to get with the most popular guy in school for her best friend that dropped out. If you ask me, that's pretty much the definition of horror." She went back to putting slips into books.

"Well, no one is asking you. These are still romance novels no matter how you see it, and they belong in the romance section."

"How would _you_ know what a _romance_ novel is?" Lacy gave me a look. "You've probably never even been on a date, let alone talk to a boy besides the other librarians." 

"My personal life has nothing to do with the genre of a book, Lacy. The fucking section these books go in is one the damn stickers, if you even bothered to even fucking look!" I could feel the anger in me rising with the amount this woman was irritating me. I knew with my voice getting louder, I was gaining attention from other people in the public library, but I was too ticked-off to care.

"Well, so-rry, not my fault I found those books horrifying." Lacy pushed some hair behind her ear. "You don't have to flip out about it, butch." I think my knuckles were turning white with how hard my fist was clenched. I had no idea why, but this woman was pissing me off so much with how she just breathed. For some reason, her voice and body language irritated me.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I felt a hand on my upper arm.

"So, this is where you disappeared to. Come on, Stella, we still have work to do." His voice was flat, emotionless as he gently pulled me from the table.

"Should listen to your friend there, go and finish your work." Lacy smirked with triumph, and I was ready to punch her in the face.

"Friend?" Dakota looked at her. "I'm not her friend." Then he ran a hand through his hair, lifting his bangs from his face. Lacy's expression changed dramatically as her cheeks went pink, and Dakota must have been aware how he looked. "I'm her boyfriend." He smirked devilishly.

"B-boyfriend?" She stuttered, and I was completely red in the face while staring at the back of Dakota's head. _'Why the Hell would he say that? We've only been out on one date, and that was almost a week ago.'_ I thought.

"Yeah, boyfriend." He confirmed while picking the books off the table. "Come on, Stella, we still have half a library to fix." Dakota pulled me along by my arm back to the horror section. He dropped the romance novels onto the cart that was missing quite a number of books, and I looked at the shelves. He had gotten quite a bit of work done while I was gone....

"Why'd you tell that girl you were my boyfriend?" I asked with a low voice as I went back to work.

"Because I am, why else?"

"What?!" I turned towards him.

"What?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Since when was I your girlfriend?" I asked with a shocked expression.

"Hmm...." He gave a thinking expression. "Since I licked you." He smirked.

"What!? But you didn't even ask me out until after that! And I didn't agree to you being my boyfriend!" Next thing I knew, my back was against the books, and Dakota had a hand on either side of my head.

"I don't need your permission. I always get what I want, and I wanted you to be my girlfriend, so, you are." He smirked while leaning in closer. "Be glad I at least took you out on a date before I told others you were mine."

"What the Hell are you talking about?"

"I didn't like how some people were looking at you, so I made it clear you weren't for them." Dakota's face was extremely close. "You're _**mine**_, Stella, and no one is going to take _you_ away from _me_." A shiver went down my spine as I looked into his icy eyes.


	5. Red Cloak

Sitting next to Dakota on the park bench, I silently ate the ice cream cone he bought me. It was surprisingly hot today despite it being the first day of spring, and it was right now late in the afternoon. I was eating a plain vanilla cone while Dakota had a swirl, and he was contently eating next to me. I was leaning against the back of the bench while looking out at the park. There were screaming and laughing children chasing each other around the playground, and their parents weren't far off, keeping a watchful eye on their children.

"Stella!!" A voice came bounding towards me from the left, and she slid onto the bench, running into me while giggling.

"Regina!" I said in surprise as the chocolate haired woman came to a halt on the bench, but I was knocked over until I caught myself by planting a firm foot on the ground. I also felt a hand on my shoulder, helping me stay up on the bench.

"So, what brings you to the park? Aren't you usually at home or the library?" She was grinning.

"Uh....I-"

"She's on a date." Dakota's clear voice said from behind me.

"Whoa, and who's he?" Regina raised a brow as she looked over at Dakota. "You never told me about a date! How could you leave me out in the cold about this?" She pouted. Sitting back up, I felt like I was in quite the awkward situation.

"His name is Dakota," I looked at my cousin. "and Dakota, this is my cousin, Regina." I looked at the male sitting beside me.

"How long have you two been going out?" She narrowed her eyes at Dakota.

"Um-"

"Not you, I was asking him." She covered my mouth, still giving a skeptical look to the blue-eyed boy.

"Two weeks." Her eyes went wide before she stared at me.

"Why didn't you tell me?! I could have lent you my clothes for your dates!" Regina whined, clinging to me.

"Regina, no offense, but your clothes aren't really what I'd wear in public."

"That's because you always wear those baggy clothes...." She pouted.

"Stella," Dakota said next to my ear.

"What?" I asked.

"You're ice cream is melting...."

"Ah!" I finally noticed the cold dripping onto my hand and quickly licked off the vanilla ice cream. Dakota chuckled while eating his own cone.

"Well, I'm gonna go now." Regina stood up. "I want to hear everything about how you two hooked-up, do you hear me?" Regina pointed at both Dakota and I. "Have fun now, kids~!" She winked at me before prancing off. I watched her leave while wondering what the Hell just happened.

"Now that you have permission to, why don't we have some fun?" Dakota's voice was close, and I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders. He pulled me flush against his side, and I felt my cheeks go pink as I looked up at him. He was smirking, leaning down while looking me in the eye.

"Wh-what?" I stammered, and his face turned to my ice cream as he stuck out his tongue.

"It's still melting." He licked the ice cream off my hand.

"I could have gotten that...." I mumbled. He shrugged, and I suddenly felt something on my mouth. My eyes went wide as I realized Dakota was kissing me. My cheeks went red, and I had no idea what to do. I felt him smirking before he pulled back.

"Wow, you really haven't done this kind of stuff before." My whole face was red and I felt like I was frozen in place.

"Of course not!" I rose from the bench while looking at him. "Why did you just kiss me?!" Dakota shrugged.

"Felt like it." He smirked. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back onto the bench next to him. "How about we go watch a movie after we finish our ice cream?" He asked with an arm draped over my shoulder.

"I have to get to bed early, I have to help my grandma fix some stuff in her house." I said with a quiet voice.

"Like what? I might be able to help."

"No, that's fine." I replied. "It isn't anything I can't handle."

~

Sighing, I carried various types of tools in my backpack while walking to my grandma's house. She lived only a few miles away, so the walk wasn't bad. Now, my grandma was pretty superstitious and didn't like strangers coming to her house, so I usually did any necessary repairs to her old house. And to avoid people, she lived in the woods.

"Bunica?" I called for my grandma while knocking on her door.

"Cine e acolo? Stella?" I grinned. My grandmother spoke Romanian since she wasn't born in America and instead immigrated here.

"Da." I replied. Suddenly, the door opened and a short woman with curly, strawberry colored hair with streaks of white answered the door. Her eyes were the same color as mine, and she smiled brightly at me.

"Intrati! Come in!" She said in Romanian first, then said the same thing in English. She moved out of the doorway, and I followed her inside while closing the door behind me. It was somewhat dark inside, but I was used to it since my grandma didn't like bright lights, they hurt her eyes.

"So, ce ai nevoie de mine sa fac?" I asked her what she needed me to do.

"The fence around my garden is broken, and the kitchen sink won't run." She pointed towards the kitchen while speaking Romanian. "Can you handle?" She asked in English.

"Yeah, bunica, I can handle it." I smiled at her. "Go watch TV, I'll get it done in no time."

"Oh, you are binecuvantare!" She said while patting my shoulder. Calmly walking to the living room, I went to check out the sink. Slipping off my backpack, I turned the tap on. No water came out, but it was making a strange noise. _'It's blocked up by something....' _I thought while sighing. Going underneath the sink, I glanced at the pipes.

Grabbing some tools from my bag, I went and found a bucket before I set to work on the sink. By the time I was done, I had wet clothes and a victorious grin since I had fixed the sink. Turning the water on just to make sure, I laughed when the water came out in an even stream.

"Draga! You are soaked!" My grandma came into the kitchen while checking up on me.

"Yeah, but the sink is fixed." I shrugged.

"Come, get dry clothes!" She ushered me out of the kitchen and towards the room I used to occupy whenever I stayed with her when I was younger. Opening the door, I saw my old dresser still in there. _'Did she keep my old clothes in there as well?'_ I chuckled at the thought. "Clothes in there, I go get cloak for cold." She closed the door and I couldn't help but laugh at her. Walking to the dresser, I opened the drawers, and sure enough, some of my old clothes were in there.

Pulling out the dark AC/DC shirt and a pair of jeans, I changed clothes. My grandma knocked on the door, and I opened it. Expecting her to have a jacket, I was taken by surprise when she literally had a cloak in her arms. It was a dark blood red, and I couldn't stop her from wrapping it around my shoulders.

It was actually pretty warm, and quite comfortable, too. Shrugging, I let her fix the cloak on me. She smiled when it was on me, and she pulled the hood onto my head.

"Was your mother's." She said. "Now your's." I looked her in the eye. '_So, mom had the same sense of style grandma did....'_ I mentally said while smiling down at the cloak.

"Thanks, bunica." I said. "Oh, before I forget to tell you, I'll have to fix the fence tomorrow. I don't have any wood, and I already checked it out from the kitchen window." She nodded.

"Okay." My grandma said while letting me out of the room. I followed her back to the kitchen, picking up my bag from the floor as grandma went to the pantry. Raising a brow, I watched her bringing over a small, plastic container. "As thanks, for sink." She smiled and handed me the cookies.

"Wow," I laughed. "you're such a bunica." She smiled.

"And you are such a granddaughter." Putting the cookies into my bag, I waved goodbye after walking out of the house. Walking home, I was completely warm while wearing the cloak. It reached down to my knees, and was pretty soft.

~

"Hey, Dakota?" I spoke lowly into the phone. I was sitting in my window seat in my pajamas, slightly embarrassed since was the first time I had called the black haired male.

"Hmm?" He hummed, and he sounded fairly calm.

"If you can, I need your help tomorrow...."

"With what?" He practically purred.

"I can't carry all the wood I need to fix a fence for my grandma...."

"I would love to help you, Stella." I could hear the smirk in his voice. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you, too." And I quickly hung up. Groaning, I fell back into the window seat, and covered my face. Why was it so hard to just talk to him over the phone? I didn't even have to speak to him face to face! So, why? 


	6. Pricolici

Walking out of my house, I locked up the back door and walked across the back yard to the woods. Before I had called Dakota last night, I had already bought all the wood for the garden fence and transported it halfway to grandma's house. It was covered in tarp to protect from whatever weather would have come last night, but it seemed that nothing had happened last night. 

Walking past the tall trees, I headed to where I had left the pile of wood. Standing by the already painted white fence bits, I suddenly realized I had forgotten to tell Dakota where to meet me at. Cursing under my breath, I sighed while slipping my backpack off from underneath the blood red cloak. Digging through the bag, I searched for my phone. The instant my fingers closed around the cellular device, I heard a deep, clear voice behind me.

"Hey there, Little Red Riding Hood." I turned around to see Dakota looking at me while leaning against a moss covered tree.

"How did you...." I trailed off before shaking my head. _'I guess I did tell him....'_ Slipping my bag back on, I gave him a look. "Ha, ha, now get over here and help me." Today, I was surprised he wasn't wearing his black jacket like he usually did. Instead, he was actually wearing a black Under Armor shirt that hugged his torso, showing off his well built torso. I felt my cheeks heat up the longer I stared at his figure.

"Yes, ma'am." He chuckled while standing off the tree and walking towards me. He was also wearing a headband to keep his bang out of his face. "So, to grandmother's house we go." Dakota smirked after picking up most of the wood.

"Pretty much." I replied while picking up what was left.

"So, what's with the hood?" Dakota asked while waiting for me to lead the way to my grandma's house.

"My bunica gave it to me."

"Bunica?" He raised a brow.

"Grandma." I said, embarrassed I had used my grandmother's nickname while talking to him.

"Must be a lovely lady." He chuckled. Sighing, I stepped over a fallen over tree.

"You have no idea." Shifting my grip on the pieces of wood, I was able to get a better grip on them. "She's the best woman I have ever known." I gave a short laugh. "That woman makes cookies like a machine, as well."

"Glad to know I've already met your cousin, and I'm now about to meet the bunica." He was just a few steps behind me. "So, when do I get to meet the parents?" I stopped walking.

"Never." I said with a distant look in my eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know...."

"How could you have?" I asked. "And don't be sorry, you're not the one at fault. Come on, it's just up ahead." I continued walking. Going straight through a few trees, the woods parted into a clearing where my grandmother's house sat. "Let's go ahead and drop the wood off in the back."

"Lead the way." Dakota said.

Piling up the wood near the garden, I dusted off my hands. Sighing, I turned towards the house. The one story home with faded brown walls and black roof was still standing sturdy, and I saw that the roof wouldn't have to be repaired when the rainy season came.

"I'm going to put my bag inside." I said while heading back to the front of the house. My grandma always kept the back door locked, only using the front door since the back door was made of a heavier type of wood. I had offered to replace the door with something else that was lighter, but she insisted on keeping it.

"I'll come with." Dakota said, hopping over the pile of wood while catching up to me.  
Walking through the front door, I called out for my grandmother.

"Bunica? It's Stella."

"Stella! I'm glad you are back!" She said in Romanian while walking out of a hallway. "Draga, who is that boy?" She looked surprised, and I glanced back at Dakota. I noticed as he was standing there, his hands were in his pockets and he shifted on his feet, leaning to one side. My brows furrowed as the white poppies my grandmother kept by the door began to get dark pink and red spots. _'They've __never done that before....'_

"My name is Dakota Woods, it's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." He said politely despite having a blank face.

"Bunica, what's up with your flowers?" I asked while pointing at the vase. Dakota glanced down at them, and I heard my grandmother gasp.

"Out! Get out!" She said quickly, hurrying over to the door.

"What? Is something wrong, Bunica?" My voice was full of surprise since I had never seen my grandmother act the way she was. She didn't answer, just kept repeating _'Get out!'_ as she went right past me. To further my surprise, she straight up pushed Dakota out onto the porch and slammed the door in his face. "Bunica?!" Quickly locking up the door, she grabbed my wrist and drug me away from the door. "What has gotten into you?" I asked, planting my feet firmly on the ground to prevent my grandmother from pulling me any more.

"Pricolici!" She said. "Come, we must hide!"

"What? Bunica, why'd you do that to Dakota?" The level of my confusion was rising as the small woman holding my wrist was rambling about a _'pricolici'_, whatever that was.

"I'll take it your grandma doesn't like me?" Dakota said through the closed door.

"Looks like...." I glanced at the door while going back to my grandmother. "Bunica, what is pricolici? I don't understand, calm down!" I held onto the small woman by her arm as she was eyeing the door.

"So, I guess she won't approve of us dating then, huh?"

"Dakota, shut up right now, I'm kind of busy!" I shouted at the door. What Dakota said had made my grandmother completely freeze up. She may not speak perfect English, but she knew enough to know what Dakota had just said.

"No, no boyfriend! He pricolici!"

"Bunica, what is pricolici?" I asked once more, and she looked me straight in the eye.

"Werewolf!"


	7. Grandmother's Belief

I stared at my grandmother and sighed.

"Bunica, Dakota isn't a werewolf, he's just a boy." I said and she shook her head.

"Nu, mottled poppy! They change, he pricolici! E monstru!" Pulling my hand from my grandmother's hold, I held her by her shoulders.

"Bunica, I've known Dakota for a while now, he's even in one of my classes at school. He's not a werewolf." She just looked at me with defeat in her eyes, I let her go while going to the door. "He came to help me with the fence. Now, what kind of monster does that?" Unlocking the door, I stepped onto the porch where Dakota was standing. Shaking my head, I walked past him and went to the backyard.

Pulling a hammer and a jar of nails from out of my backpack that I had failed in leaving in the house, I set to work on fixing the fence.

"Wow, you're grandma is pretty protective of you." Dakota sighed, reaching into my bag for the other hammer. _'How did he know I had another one?'_ I thought at the back of my head. _'Maybe common sense since I had asked him to **help** me.'_

"No, she just thinks you're a pricolici." I sighed.

"What's that mean?" He asked while crouching down next to me and began to help me.

"Werewolf." I rolled my eyes. "She's pretty superstitious, even keeps jars of mountain ash on all the windowsills." I noticed Dakota had paused in his work.

"Nice to know your grandma thinks I'm a mythical beast." He gave a nervous chuckle. '_What the....?'_ I raised a brow at him, but shook my head and went to work.

It was nearly dark outside when we finally finished, and my grandma was watching the whole time through a window, narrowing her eyes at Dakota whenever she could. She refused to even come outside when I was leaving to say good bye, so I had to go into the house.

My grandma continued trying to warn me about Dakota, but there was no way I would believe her. I mean, how could Dakota be a werewolf? Werewolves weren't even real-no matter how much I wished they were, I knew they weren't. So, to at least amuse my grandmother, I let her put the necklace with a small bottle on it around my neck. I didn't know what was in the bottle, but it looked like some sort of dried plant.

Walking through the woods, I felt the air getting colder as the sun dipped below the horizon. Looking over at Dakota, I noticed how he seemed fine despite the drop in temperature. Shaking my head, I put my hands into my pockets, warm and comfortable in the red cloak. Stepping over fallen trees and roots that were sticking up out of the ground, it was a silent night.

"Thanks for uh....you know, helping me." I said while looking at Dakota. He smirked while looking down at me.

"No problem." Then, I noticed how far he was walking away from me, which I found very unusual sense he was usually all over me.

"Hey, are you oka-Oof!" I tripped since I was looking at Dakota instead of where I was walking.

"Awe, poor Red Riding Hood." Dakota chuckled, and I felt him grab the hood, pulling me up off the ground. "Am I that distracting?" 

"No, you're not." I gave him a look, dusting the dirt and leaves off of me.

"Here, let me help." Dakota smirked while pulling leaves off of my cloak.

"Thanks." I grumbled, upset that I had tripped.

"Don't mention it." And his body was suddenly extremely close to me.

"D-don't you know anything about personal space?" I said while taking a step back. Running into a tree, Dakota placed a hand on the bark beside my head.

"Oh, I know, but remember? You're _**mine**_." He chuckled as his other hand slid up the back of my thigh underneath the cloak.

"D-Dakota!" I gasp, pushing his hand down.

"Why do you deny me, Red?" He mumbled, his face in the crook of my neck. I felt my face turning red while Dakota put his hand back on my thigh, sliding it up to my hip.

"We're in the middle of the woods!" Why was I whispering?

"And?" His lips brushed up my neck. "We're completely alone-finally." Dakota put his body flush against mine, and a shiver ran down my spine as his ice eyes seemed to glow in the moon's light.

"-" I opened my mouth to speak, but Dakota took it as his chance and began to kiss me. His tongue explored every inch of my mouth as he caressed my tongue in the process. Hands were balled into fists against his chest, and he began to grind his pelvis into mine.

Unable to help myself, I gave a small moan, and I felt Dakota smirk against my mouth. I don't know when I had closed my eyes, but I could feel every touch Dakota gave me. Both of his hands went lower, grabbing the back of my weakening knees, and he lifted. Wrapping my legs around his waist, he pinned me against the tree as he continued kissing me. 

With one hand on my ass to hold me up, he snuck his other hand under my cloak and began to massage my breast. I moaned again, enjoying every touch and kiss and caress coming from Dakota. The heat was coming off of him in waves, and I could feel my own body temperature rising as he continued grinding against me. When he groaned into my mouth, I felt my whole body shudder as I let out a shaky breath.

_ 'What is he doing to me?'_ I thought. _'This is insane, but it feels so good....'_

"Stella...." Dakota chuckled. I was nearly panting as I looked up at him with half-opened eyes. "You're so perfect." He simply said before going back to kissing me. '_What?'_ My eyes closed again. '_What does that mean?'_ I moaned into the kiss as he squeezed my ass in his large hand.

I could feel his well toned body on my own, and it was sending my head into a downward spiral. This man was so odd-he started out as just another face in the crowd at the back of the class, then became a boy who seemed oddly interested in me, and now....now he was doing this....

The sound of something ripping brought me out of my head, and I felt cold air on my chest. Dakota pulled back from kissing me again, and began to lick at the sensitive spot on my neck. I heard a strange rumbling in his chest that strongly resembled the sound of a beastly purr. His hand was warm as it slipped beneath my bra and touched my bare skin. I gasped at the sensation of the skin to skin contact.

"Why do you have to smell so good?" He mumbled against my neck, and his pelvis began to grind harder into my own. Biting my bottom lip, I shuddered when he groaned and licked my neck again. "Please, let me take you...." He whispered in my ear before nibbling gently on my ear lobe.

"No...." I replied lowly, feeling something tear inside of me. Dakota groaned, but it was in frustration this time.

"Stella, I don't know how much longer I can control myself...."

"I'm not ready...." I whispered-my mind was saying no, while my body, in various ways, was screaming yes.

"Fine, I'll wait....but you know what to do when you are ready for me." He whispered before giving me a deep, hungry kiss. The next thing I knew, Dakota was gone, and I was left leaning against the tree since my knees were so wobbly. Off in the distance, I heard a wolf's howl, and I was reminded of the eyes in the darkness.

Taking a deep breath, I stood all the way up and made my way home with my mind in a daze. Once, inside my own home, I stripped off my cloak, torn shirt, and the rest of my clothes before hopping into the shower. I realized the necklace grandma had given me was gone, so I assumed it had fallen off when I had tripped.


	8. What Boredom Brings

Time seemed to pass by so quickly as I got to know Dakota better. I had yet to meet the family, but I learned that he was different around other people than when he was with me. Also, whenever he could, Dakota would pin me down and we'd have fairly heated make out sessions that would abruptly end when he would suddenly vanish. I never knew where he'd disappear off to, nor how he could leave so quickly without even leaving a trace.

Sighing, I was biting on the end of me pen while looking down at the papers before me that were strewn about the table. I was thinking of something to draw, but my mind was coming up blank and kept going to Dakota. I groaned, letting my head hit the table with a solid thud as I gave up.

It was summer now, and Regina wouldn't stop bugging me to go swimming with her, and Dakota wouldn't stop taking me out on dates to the diner, the park, a few walks in the woods, and so on. Sitting up, I bit my lip. I couldn't clear my mind of Dakota, no matter how hard I tried. He was always waiting in the shadows until I was trying to do something before he popped up.

My phone ringing made me jolt up and race to my bed where my phone sat charging. I needed a distraction, badly, and hopefully this call could provide it. Maybe it's Regina? Please, oh please, be Regina! She would be the perfect distraction!

"Hello?" I answered. Groaning, I hung up. It was just some telemarketer. Rolling onto my back, I stared up at the ceiling. Why did that black haired man ever have to stop me in the hallway? Why did he ever have to ask my name, or even to go on that date with me? God, it was like I was going crazy because of him. His touch was addictive, and his voice always sent shivers down my spine when he said my name or whispered in my ear.

Sighing, I covered my eyes with my arm. Why was he like nicotine? It was like I could never get enough of him until right before he'd disappear. My grandmother still did not approve, but I don't think it really mattered anymore. I was already past the point of no return with him-I craved him like a drug. And no matter what I did or where I went, he'd show up as if fate wouldn't let us ever be apart.

My doorbell rang, and I lazily rose to my feet. Going downstairs, I answered the door with some paper money in my hand. The pizza delivery man stood there, holding my pizza.

"That'll be $--.--." He said while looking up at me.

"Here." I handed over the money, and he gave me my pizza. He nodded his head before leaving, and I shut the door before he was even off the porch. Carrying the pizza box, I jumped onto my couch and sat cross-legged with the box in my lap. Grabbing the remote next to me, I turned on the TV. Going to Netflix, I picked out a movie and pushed the play button. Dropping the remote, I opened up the box and began to eat while watching _Ginger Snaps_.

After the movie was over, and the pizza was gone, I rose from the couch and stretched out my limbs. _'Now what?' _I thought while looking around. Going to the kitchen, I grabbed something to drink, then went back to the couch and watched _Z Nation _until I went to bed.


	9. Public Pool

"What are you doing here?" I asked Regina as she stood on my porch wearing sunglasses, a bikini top, denim short-shorts, flip-flops, and a beach bag on one of her shoulders.

"Taking you to go swimming." She said while walking past me into my house.

"How'd you even get here?" I asked, remembering that she didn't have a vehicle of any sort.

"James-he's waiting outside, so hurry up." She shoved the beach bag into my arms.

"What?"

"You. Swim-suit. Now." She pointed at me with a grin. "I hope I got the right size, you've grown quite a bit since the last time I got you a swim-suit."

"Regina-"

"No excuses, you can't stay cooped up in this house while it's summer!" I saw the look in her eyes and gave up when she crossed her arms. Whenever she crosses her arms, there was no changing her mind.

"Give me a minute...." Sighing, I went to my bedroom to change. Coming back down the stairs, I zipped up my jacket.

"Does it fit?" She asked with a smile.

"Barely...." I grumbled. "Thanks, by the way." She nodded.

"No problem, Cuz." Regina winked. "Now, can't forget the glasses, now can we?" She grabbed the sunglasses out of the beach bag and set them on the bridge of my nose. "Ready to go?"

"Gotta get my keys." I said. Picking up my keys and wallet on my way out the door, I locked up my house and followed Regina to the road where James was waiting in the driver's seat in a sports car. Hopping into the backseat while Regina got shotgun, I sighed and buckled up.

When we arrived at the public pool, we crawled out of the car, and Regina drug me to a cluster of metal chairs around a table. She set her things down and grabbed the sunscreen out of the bag.

"Come on, I know how bad you burn, ginger." She said.

"Oh, I'm good. I never said I would be swimming." I replied. Regina pouted, begging me with her eyes. "Nope, be glad I even came." I pushed the sunglasses off my nose and onto the top of my head so I could look at her better.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when you want to swim and get sunburned." She shrugged, put down the sunscreen, and drug James to the pool. Shaking my head, I put my hands into my jacket pockets and headed towards the concession stand to buy some water. Walking past all the chairs and tables, I didn't stop until my phone rang in my pocket. Pausing my walking, I pulled the ringing device out of my pocket. Answering it, I continued walking.

"Stella. Pool. 10th Street. Come." My brows furrowed since I heard the voice doubled. Glancing up, I saw a tall, dark haired male standing with his back to me not but a yard away. He had one hand on his bare hip while he held a cellphone to his ear with the other. He wore nothing but a pair of swim trunks the same color as his hair, and I was able to see his bare, tanned back. Smirking, I closed the distance by walking over to him.

"Hmm, I don't know...." I said into the phone.

"Hey, what's with your phone? Your voice sounds weird."

"Maybe," I hung up and the dark haired male looked at his phone. "it's because I'm already here." The man turned around, looking down at me with icy eyes. He smirked, lowering his phone.

"'Tis destiny." He said.

"I'm beginning to think it might be." I smiled up at him. His hair was slicked back as if he was in the pool not too long ago, and people were staring since they could actually see his face.

"Well, since you're here," He looked around. "why don't you meet some of my family?" I went wide-eyed.

"Really....?"

"Why not? I've met some of yours." Dakota grinned. "And we've been together for a while now."

"I guess it couldn't hurt...." I scratched my arm.

"Oh, don't worry, they'll love you...." He slung an arm over my shoulders. "....eventually." He teased with a smirk. "This way, Little Red." Dakota lead me towards a cluster of tables and various beach chairs with towels tossed onto them. I felt my heart leap into my throat as I saw all of the people Dakota was seeming to take me towards.

"All of them are family?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, but mostly cousins." He chuckled at my expression and cleared his throat while standing up completely. "Everyone, this is Stella. Stella, this is everyone." Dakota said clearly. All of the people stopped what they were doing and looked right at me. At least I knew one of the faces I saw-one of them was Gina from the diner.

"H-hi...." I gave a nervous wave as they silently stared.

"Anyways, let's go for a swim." Dakota quickly lead me away from the group of people and I took a deep breath.

"That....was awkward...."

"Yeah, well, the idea of me having a girlfriend is fairly new to them."

"What?" I asked while glancing up at him.

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" He raised a brow.

"Tell me what?"

"I guess I didn't." He chuckled. "You're the first girlfriend I've had." I was about to say something, but he saw my questioning expression and continued talking. "I've always just had brief flings or one-night stands." Dakota said honestly. I felt my cheeks go pink at the thought of what he just said meant. "Oh, are you having dirty thoughts about me?" He chuckled and I pushed him away.

"No!" I said. _'Yes.'_ I thought.

"Cute." He laughed. "Go ahead and take your jacket off so we can go swimming." He pointed at me.

"Um...." I blushed a deeper red. "I didn't really come with the intention of swimming, I just came because Regina wouldn't leave me alone about coming...."

"It can't be that bad, what's to be embarrassed about? It's just a swimsuit." He said, knowing exactly why I had blushed. Dakota grabbed the zipper on my jacket and pulled it down.

"Wait!" I said, grabbing his hands, but it was too late and the jacket was unzipped. Dakota froze, staring at what was before him. "D-don't stare!" I said while flustered, and he suddenly zipped my jacket back up.

"Yup, we're not swimming." He coughed, and I looked up at him to see his cheeks completely pink. "How about we just sit down and not take off your jacket at all?" He didn't even give me time to answer before he was dragging me to a beach chair. "Okay, cool." Dakota sat down and pulled me down with him, sitting me in his lap.

"I thought you wanted to go swim." He wrapped his muscled arms around me and held me to his chest.

"No one is seeing that much of your skin except me." He said lowly in my ear. "So unless you have a wetsuit, you aren't going swimming, and neither am I." I couldn't help but laugh at him, and he tightened his grip on me. "What's so funny?" He asked while setting his chin onto my shoulder.

"You are." I simply answered. He clicked his tongue, but said nothing else. Leaning into him, I sighed and looked for Regina. She was busy jumping off the diving board while James was waiting in the water below. "So, how are you related to Gina?" I asked.

"She's my dad's sister's daughter."

"Could have just said cousin, Dakota. Could have just said cousin." Sitting in his lap, he kept his chin on my shoulder as I watched Regina enjoying her time in the water. I guess James wasn't such a bad guy if she was still with him.... Mentally shaking my head, I glanced over at some of Dakota's family members who were still at the tables instead of in the water. Some of them were looking right back at me....

Gazing back to the pool, I felt like I was a rabbit being watched by a pack of wolves. Not long after, I began to feel the summer heat attacking me in the long-sleeved jacket. In my head, I would have taken it off to feel cooler, but in reality, I didn't even dare to pull up my sleeves. Sighing, I shifted uncomfortably in Dakota's lap. It didn't help that he was giving off as much heat as the sun.

"You okay?" He asked.

"It's really hot." I said bluntly. "And you clinging onto me isn't helping."

"Do you want some water or ice or something?"

"What I want is to be cool." I grumbled. Swimming was actually looking like a good idea now, even if it was only to escape the heat.

"You aren't swimming in that swim-suit." He said as if he could read my mind.

"At least let me take my shorts off, it's hot." I complained.

"Tch, fine." He unwrapped his arms from around me and leaned back. "Let me go get you a shirt to wear instead of the jacket." And Dakota rose to his feet before walking away. Going over to the table with Regina's stuff piled onto it along with James's clothes, I stood next to a chair. Wiggling out of my shorts, I dropped them onto the table. Hopefully, my phone, wallet, and keys would be safe in my pockets.

"Here." Dakota's clear voice caught my attention, and I saw him holding out a t-shirt towards me. Taking the offered garment, I unzipped my jacket and slipped it off my shoulders. Setting it with my shorts, I pulled the white t-shirt over my head and put it on. It was multiple sizes too big, but at least there was enough room for my boobs....

"This is your shirt, isn't it?" I said with a deadpanned expression.

"Yes." Looking up at him, I saw he had pink dusted cheeks and he was staring.

"What?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"I was right, you do look hot in nothing but my shirt." He smirked, and I punched him in the arm. Dakota just chuckled and pulled me along back to where we had been sitting earlier in the shade. Sitting in his lap this time was easier since I didn't feel like I was burning up.

"Hey, Dakota?"

"What?"

"Do you know those people?" I asked while pointing out a few guys standing outside the fence of the public pool. I noticed how they kept staring this way, and wondered if they were friends of Dakota's since it looked like they were also trying to get his attention.

"I'll be right back." He grumbled, and I stood up as he left. He walked towards the exit of the pool and headed towards the people outside the fence. '_I guess now would be the best time to get that water I forgot to get....' _My mind spoke calmly. Fetching a few bills from my wallet, I headed to the concession stand.

I ended up buying a water and a popsicle. Heading back towards the beach chair, I was stopped by three girls who were all taller than me and all-what I had seen people consider-gorgeous. Two had their arms crossed while the middle one had her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me," I said politely, trying to go around her. She raised a hand, stopping me. I raised a brow while looking at her. She had hazel eyes and rich brown hair. "Do you need something?" I sincerely asked.

"Yeah, I need you to tell me how you know Dakota."

"What?" I felt my brows furrow. Was this another one of his family members? Oh no, did they not like me? I know I didn't actually care what some stranger thought, but if Dakota's family didn't like me, it'd be fairly difficult for us to be together.....

"Dakota." She stated. "How do you know him?"

"Uh...." I hesitated. Whenever people asked that question, Dakota would usually answer, but since he wasn't here, that meant I'd have to admit something. "He's....he's my boyfriend." It felt so weird to say it, especially to a complete stranger.

"So, you _are_ Stella." She looked down her nose at me. "He never mentioned you were a monkey." I frowned. I may be a bit on the short side, and I didn't exactly have the body of a model like they did, but that still didn't give them the right to call me a monkey....

"It isn't nice to call names." I said flatly.

"So? What are you going to do about it, monkey?" My face was expressionless as I looked up at her. For some reason, she seemed to hesitate when she looked back.

"I can't do anything, it's your own choice to say what you like, but that also means I can do the same thing." I tilted my head slightly to the side. "So why don't you get the fuck out of my way so I can go sit down?" My voice was surprisingly calm.

"Who do you think you are?" One girl piped in with a look of disgust.

"Yeah, who?" The other one said. The one in the middle was still staring at me. This situation was so similar to various memories from back in High School and I was wondering if these girls watched too many teen dramas.

"You know, I don't know what he could possibly see in a monkey like you, how are you keeping him so entertained?" She asked. "It doesn't look like you could do much-between the sheets or otherwise." And that was when I snapped. Before I even really thought about it, my fist reared back and crashed right into the side of her jaw.

"Name calling is one thing, but what you just fucking said can be considered highly inappropriate." The girl fell to the ground, landing on her ass as she held her jaw. She looked shocked, and her mouth was ajar as she gave me a wide-eyed look. I ignored the dull ache in my knuckles from punching her, and made to walk around the trio of girls.

Suddenly, I felt an intense force push me as I was unable to stop my self from falling. Going head first into the pool, I was lucky I didn't hit any one or thing when I fell in. It took me a second to realize where I was since it had happened all so fast, and I had to kick my legs to get my head above the surface. Coughing out some water, I looked up to see two of the girls helping the one I had punched._ 'You didn't have to push me into the pool....could have just punched me....'_ I thought as the girls left and I had to pull myself from the water.

Sighing, I flicked the pool water off of my water bottle and popsicle. Grumbling, I made my way over to my stuff and used my jacket to get the chlorine off of my frozen treat. Tearing off the top of it, I stuck the end of it into my mouth so I could have my hands free. Digging through my short's pockets, I grabbed my wallet and put my change into before going back to the beach chair.

Laying back in the chair, I ate my popsicle in silence as water dripped off of me and onto the chair and concrete below. Silently grumbling, I looked at my pink knuckles. That girl's jaw was hard as rock, and I could hardly believe that I had hit her face instead of a brick wall.

"Stella?" I looked up to see Dakota peering down at me.

"What?" Gulping, I felt like I was in trouble. I still didn't know if the girl I had punched was related to him or not, so I had no idea if he'd be angry or not.

"Why are you soaking wet?" He asked, leaning over while placing a hand on the back of the chair by my head.

"I fell into the pool...." I said quietly. Dakota's eyes were boring into me, and his face was so close to my own.

"You do realize the t-shirt you are wearing is white, right?" I nodded, feeling the heat creep into my face the longer he was giving me that look. "That means, I'm not the only one who can see your body." His eyes darted down, and I got the strong feeling he was checking me out. "Which also means, you can't have this." And Dakota snatched the frozen treat from my hands.

"Dakota!" I said while reaching for it. He held it out of arm's length, and I knew there was no way to win against him, so I just sat back in defeat. "Can you please give me back my popsicle? I paid for it."

"You can have it back-if," He pulled back when I reached for it again. "you give me a kiss." He smirked and I glared at him.

"You're such an asshole."

"What? It's simple, give me a kiss, and you can have this back." I was still glaring at him, but thought about the offer._ 'It's not like we haven't kissed before....' _I thought. "Oh, and it has to be on the lips." Dakota gave a devilish smirk. Groaning, I rolled my eyes and sat up, planting a kiss onto his mouth. It was just a brief peck on the lips, but he didn't seem satisfied. Shaking his head, he clicked his tongue. "That was pitiful, Stella. Don't you want this back?" He asked, waving my popsicle.

"Tch." I grabbed the back of his head and brought his lips against mine. With a fist full of hair, I slipped my tongue into his mouth and kissed him. Dakota froze up, though, and when I was done with the kiss, I pulled back with a slightly shocked expression on my face. I had never done something like that before....

Looking at Dakota's face, I nearly gasped as my eyes went extremely wide. His usual ice colored eyes were now a yellow-ish orange, and he was still staring at me as he stood stock still. Clearing his throat, he looked away while quickly handing me back my popsicle.

"Well, um...." He coughed. "that was acceptable." And he quickly stood up, turning his back to me as he covered his face and briskly walked off. _'What the....'_ I thought while watching him walk away. '_Okay, I know sure as Hell I wasn't seeing things....'_


	10. Truth

I was pissed. Completely,_ thoroughly, **utterly**_** _pissed_**. After the incident at the pool, it seemed like Dakota was avoiding me, and to top it off, _Lacy _had fucked up the library again. So, here I was, fixing her mess once more when I was supposed to be working on my psychology paper on lycanthropy syndrome. It was already late at night and the head librarian had given me a key to lock up when I was through when they left hours ago.

Pushing the cart of books past the shelves, I was grumbling under my breath and looking at the little, white stickers on the book spines. Rearranging the books and adding in the ones that had been returned, I had already been here since lunch and it was already past 11:30 p.m. Most of the lights had been turned off, but the bright moon shining through the windows helped to see in the areas the lights still on didn't reach.

The only sounds being made were my occasional footsteps, the cart wheels moving every now and then, and books being taken and put back onto the shelves. The only thing that made me in the slightest bit happy was the fact that one more mistake from _Lacy_ would get her fired. Sighing, I let my shoulders droop and my hands fell to my sides. Looking to the top of the shelf, I wondered what the Hell I was supposed to do. I knew I should talk to Dakota about the whole incident, but every time I tried, he'd somehow vanish into thin air.

My head jerked to the side as I heard the front door open. The head librarian had locked the door after leaving to ensure no one would come in while I was working alone, but I knew I had heard the door open. Grabbing the thickest book on the cart next to me, I slowly walked towards the front of the public library. I was right-the door was wide open. Looking around, I didn't get too close, just close enough to see the door. The glowing, red exit sign above it was flickering oddly and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

_ Someone_ was definitely in here_ with_ me, meaning I was no longer _alone_ and most likely no longer _safe_. My hands gripped tighter on the book I had as I looked around. I felt as if I was being watched and I hated it. Quietly retreating to the area of the library the lights were off, I knew I'd have the advantage there. People in the light couldn't see into the darkness, but any eyes in the darkness could see into the light.

Having my back against the wall, I scanned my surroundings the best I could since there were so many bookshelves. Right in the area I had been working, I caught a flash of movement before the book cart was pushed over, sending the books toppling to the ground. My heart beat quickened as my blood ran hot in my veins. There was a cold chill along my spine as my vision seemed to sharpen with the adrenaline that had started pumping through my system. There had only been one other time I had ever felt this sensation before, and that was the night my parents had been killed....

Silence returned, but I could still hear my heart beat thumping loudly in my ears. Narrowing my eyes, I tried to locate the other person I knew was searching through the aisles of shelves for me. Crouching down, I somewhat crawled for a better view, spotting someone with their back to me.  
It was a tall male, his head pivoting around as he was looking about the library. He wore a black leather jacket, faded blue jeans, black biker boots, and his hair was cut short while being the same color as the dark, wooden shelves. Watching him, I heard him give an inhuman growl before he turned around, a book in his hand as he threw it.

"Come out, girly, I know you're here!" He shouted in a rough voice as the book crashed into a shelf yards away. "I can smell you, you know, so I'll find you eventually!" His coffee grounds colored eyes turned sharp as he glared. "Don't think you can escape me, hunter! There aren't many places in here you can hide!" The man began to walk around again, his boots not making a single sound on the floor.

My fingers twitched, sensing the danger in the air. For some reason, this was all too similar to when I had lost my parents. I didn't dare move as a tingling sensation from my skull went down my spine and to my other limbs. Yes, it was the same thing that had happened when I was hiding back then as well....

Suddenly, as if the intruder had sensed the change, his dark eyes landed right on me as an evil grin pulled at his lips. His eyes flashed a burnt orange, causing me to suck in a sharp breath.

"Found you." His sharp teeth glinted as he walked straight for me, obviously in no hurry as I rose to my full height. I wanted to run, but my feet wouldn't move. I wanted to move to escape, but my body refused to listen as the strange man with the strange, glowing eyes got nearer. "Look at you, behaving so well. I thought you'd fight back or at least run, hunter, but you're making it so easy for me to kill you!" He laughed, flexing his hands as claws reflected the light on each of his fingertips. _'Kill?'_ My eyes widened as the word echoed in my head.

Oh, no....it was going to happen again, wasn't it? First my parents, now me? _'Wait, hunter? Claws?'_ My mind drifted before focusing back on the man as he was reaching a menacing hand out towards me. _'Kill....' _That word filled my thoughts again as I looked at his inhuman eyes. _'Kill....'  
_

Suddenly, my body moved, using the book in my hands to block his hands as I got closer to him, going for an opening on his side. Time seemed to slow down as things felt like they were in slow motion. Twisting around, my elbow hit him right in the ribs as I heard a few audible cracks before the guy flew back. I felt like I was in a daze as my elbow had a dull ache in it from how much the man had been like a brick wall. _'Kill....'_ The filthy word kept repeating itself over and over in my head as I remembered the night my parents were_ killed_. I had only lived due to my mother hiding me, but now....now that odd feeling from that night seemed to have taken control of my body.

The odd man groaned, rolling onto his uninjured side before getting up. He then chuckled darkly, rising to his feet while shaking his head.

"Oh, this is going to be fun!" His gaze narrowed to me as he shrugged off his leather jacket. My face was blank as I looked at him, my eyes seeming to glaze over as he came at me again. Leaning out of the way, his fist hissed past my cheek before I hit his ribs again with an open palm, pushing him back with a great amount of force. He was back on the ground once more after another series of cracks. He growled, his veins turning black as he snarled at me. I could see his pounding heart beat from the black pulse under his skin.

The third time he came at me, he leapt, the sound of clothes tearing and popping filling my ears as I watched the man turn to a beast as he flew through the air. My mind didn't seem to really react to the scene I just witnessed since I fell back, kicking my legs into the air and sending the furry creature crashing into the bookshelves lining the back wall. The shelves broke as books spilled to the ground and a growl came from beneath the mess.

A roar erupted from his throat as he shot up from the pile and he bared his fangs at me. His dark brown fur glistened in the moonlight as his burnt orange eyes burned with rage and hate. The beast swung his paw-like hand at me, his claws whistling through the air before I grabbed his wrist. Pulling to my right and down, I drug him towards the floor as my knee came crashing into his sternum. The air was knocked from his lungs as his eyes bugged out while I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

The strong resemblance he bore to a canine didn't seem to bother me, only the fact that my life was in danger as my knee throbbed dully along with my elbow and palm. Yanking him off of my knee, I threw him to the ground. The creature yelped before twisting to his feet and pulling back his fist to hit me. I caught his knuckles an inch from my face before twisting it behind his back. Kicking the back of his legs, he fell to his knees while snarling. Grabbing his top jaw with my right hand, the beast's saliva coated my fingers, and before he bite down, my left hand grabbed his bottom jaw in the same way.

_ 'Kill....' _Was still echoing in my head as I pried the creature's mouth open further. Large paw-like hands wrapped around my wrists, trying to pull my hands away. I kept separating his jaws further and further apart as he squirmed, my blank face watching the terror filling his burnt orange eyes while the sound of ripping began to fill my ears. The beast screamed in agony as blood began to flow through his fur from his jaws being ripped apart.

The front door burst open as a loud, sickening pop made the screaming louder. Blood coated my fingers as I dropped the creature's lower jaw to the floor. Another pop and tearing followed as crimson sprayed my face and clothes. The rest of the furry body hit the ground with a thud as I held the beast's head in my right hand.

"Stella!" A voice bellowed, causing my to look up blankly. Another tall man came skidding to a halt, his eyes full of fear as his icy orbs were looking around wildly before focusing on me and the bloody, messy scene in front of me. "Stella?" His face was full of shock as he took a careful step towards me. The head in my hand fell to the ground beside me as I stared back at the man. He was familiar. Safe.

"Dakota?" I spoke quietly before looking down at my hands. There were completely still, covered in blood that was not my own, but they were still. My body did not tremble despite the fact of everything that had just happened.

"What....what happened?"

"He broke in...." I mumbled, my eyes focusing between my fingers as the beast returned to looking like a man. "He tried to kill me....but....I...." Looking up at him, the daze began to clear away and the strange sensation was leaving my body. "I don't know what happened." Tears pricked at the back of my eyes. "Dakota, I don't know what happened! I-I was working, then-then he broke in and I hid, but he-he found me and I froze and-and when he said he was going to kill me, my body just reacted and-and-and-!" The tears fell down cheeks, mixing with the blood on my face.

I jolted as a loud bang echoed throughout the library. Looking up, I saw Dakota with his fist buried into a shelf as exploded books came raining down in a flood of fluttering pages. His other hand was covering his face and I could hear an inhuman growl coming from his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Stella." He said lowly as the pages began to pool on the ground, soaking up the blood covering the floor. "I didn't mean to put you in this sort of danger, but...." He trailed off with a sigh. "but you obviously aren't just a human like I had thought you to be."

"Dakota....what are you talking about? What's going on?" I asked as the tears were still silently coming from my eyes. "Do you know what this guy is?"

"I don't know what's all going on-with you, I mean. And yes, I know what this guy is." Dakota looked up at me, his eyes glowing a yellow-orange like they had at the pool. "We're werewolves."


	11. Afterwards

"_'We're'_?" I furrowed my brows. "You mean....you...." My eyes glanced down at the headless body. Bad idea. Bile threatened to rise at the back of my throat. The smell of death and blood filling my nose as I nearly covered my mouth with my hand before noticing all of the red covering it. "Oh, my God." I finally began to react, no longer being numbed by that odd feeling I had earlier.

"Stella-"

"Oh, my God!" I stumbled back, tripping over my own feet while looking at all of the blood on me as the tears came out even harder. "What have I done?"

"Stella, it's okay, you were just-"

"Stop!" I raised a hand to keep Dakota where he was. He was trying to get closer, but I thought it would be dangerous if he did. "Just....stop." Hurt flashed in his eyes, thinking it was because I had learned that he was the same type of creature as the one that had attacked me. "If....if you come any closer....I could hurt you...." I managed to choke out, my eyes focused on the blood on the back of my hand. "I killed him....I might kill you, too...."

"Stella," He sighed my name, his eyes giving me a gentle look. "you won't kill me." He gave a soft smile while taking a step forward. "I'm not the same as him, you wouldn't hurt me unless you wanted to." I tried to make him stop, but the stupid male wouldn't listen to my warnings, he just kept getting closer and closer until....

Squeezing my eyes shut, I waited for what I feared to come. Instead....I just felt his arms wrap tightly around me. One of his hands went to the back of my head as I buried my face into the crook of his neck. Clinging to the back of his shirt, I cried while feeling so scared, so confused, and so horrified at myself. Dakota rubbed his other hand in circles on my back to comfort me, not seeming to care about how I was drenched in blood or how the Hell I could have possibly killed the werewolf.

After about maybe half an hour, the tears finally stopped and the spot where my face was on his shirt was soaked. Silence settled in the library and now that I was calm, Dakota spoke using a quiet voice without letting me go.

"Where's the room for the security camera feed?" He asked. My blood ran cold-I had totally forgotten about that.

"It the back near the restoration room." I sniffled, not bothering to wipe away my tears since that would just smear the blood on me further.

"Show me." He pulled back, taking my hands while pulling me to my feet. Nodding, I led him to the room were the monitors hooked up to the security cameras was located. Inside was dark except for the light coming from the live feeds and the recording devices all had green lights on, showing that they were recording everything. Dakota turned them off before taking out all of the tapes and replacing them with blank ones. When he turned them back on, he didn't press the 'record' button to make it seem like morning security had forgotten to turn them on.

Carrying the stack of tapes, we left the room and he glanced at me. Dakota gave a reassuring smile before slipping his phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number before putting the device to his ear as he waited for the one he was calling to pick up.

"Yeah, it's me." Dakota said and all I could hear was his side of the conversation. "We've had an....incident at the public library. We'll be needing a clean-up crew since there's a body." He paused. "Yeah, you'll need the gloves, there's blood." Another pause. "No, no-I didn't do it. Just send the crew and I'll explain everything tomorrow. Tell the others not to track any of the scents they find here, I already know who did it." Shifting on my feet, I felt guilty for killing the guy. Yeah, he had tried to kill me first, but that didn't mean he had to get hit face ripped apart and decapitated.... "No, the person is of no threat-look, I said I'd explain tomorrow." He then hung up before pocketing the phone.

Dakota turned back to me, having blood stains on him from comforting me. He fixed his hold on the tapes before walking past me without saying a word. _'What now?' _I thought.

"Come on, you're staying with me tonight. I don't think you'll be safe for a while on your own." Looking up, I saw him holding open the front door.

"What about...." I trailed off while glancing in the direction of the dead werewolf. Thankfully, there were bookshelves in the way so I didn't see him again.

"I've taken care of that."

"Okay...." Replying lowly, I walked towards the exit and went outside. The moon was extremely high, shining brightly like a spotlight. Looking up, I felt as if the moon was an innocent onlooker to what I had done inside and bore witness to the monster I was to have done so. My gaze went to the ground as I followed Dakota through the dark streets. I was thankful that there was no one that came across our path because that would have just made things worse since I was still covered in drying blood.

Near the edge of the woods, Dakota led me up the walkway to a little, wooden house that looked like a log cabin. He dug into his pocket for keys to unlock the door, then let me into his house. The whole way here had been quiet since neither one of us spoke, but I had found some comfort in that since so much had happened already. Dakota closed the door behind him, set the tapes onto a table by the door, and turned on a lamp that was there.

"You can get cleaned up in the shower, I'll got get you some clean clothes and a towel, so give me a sec." He said.

"Okay...." My head lightly nodded as he headed towards an open doorway a few feet away. He didn't bother to turn on any lights as he navigated through his dark house and I just listened as some drawers were opened and closed before he reappeared in the doorway.

"Here you go. Bathroom is down the hall to the left." He handed me the towel and change of clothes as I looked up at him.

"Thanks....for everything...." I mumbled lowly, but he had heard me. One of his large hands landed on the top of my head and ruffled my hair.

"No problem. I've told you before, you're mine, and what kind of a boyfriend would I be if I didn't help you out or protect you?" He asked-I didn't reply and just averted my gaze as pink dusted my cheeks. Simply shrugging, I walked away and headed to the bathroom using the instructions he had given.

Entering the bathroom, I flicked on the light, then set the clothes and towel onto the sink counter. Walking over to the shower, I turned the knobs and undressed while waiting for the water to heat up. Pulling my shirt off, flakes of dried blood fell to the floor. I didn't want to look in the mirror to see myself, but I caught my reflection from the corner of my eye. Glancing up as I was unzipping my jeans, I froze.

It looked like there was Halloween make-up on my face with all of the blood and the streaks from where my tears had cleared the way. My eyes were red and bloodshot, making them look terrifying. I looked like a horror show since the blood had soaked through my clothes and covered my body, smudging in areas while being a thick red in others. There were even blood splatters in my off-white hair, and I quickly turned away while getting undressed completely. I was glad when the steam fogged up the mirror and I hurried to get under the hot, running water.

The bottom of the shower turned red as the blood mixed with the water and ran down my legs to the drain. I felt such hatred towards myself. What the Hell was I? Where had the strength come from to rip a fucking werewolf into pieces? Looking down at my hands, they were now clean, but I noticed that every part of me I had hit the man with was pink and slightly throbbing. I just stood there like that until the water began to turn pink and I looked around for soap to help get the scent of blood off of my skin.

I washed myself over and over again until my skin was pink from the scrubbing and the heat of the shower. When my senses could no longer perceive any speck of blood on me, I turned the shower off and grabbed the towel as I stepped out of the shower. Drying off and getting dressed, I left my clothes in the floor. There was no way I'd ever touch them again.

Exiting the bathroom, I headed back to the living room with the towel on my head as I was drying my hair. Coming in quietly, I saw Dakota sitting on the edge of the couch with his elbows on his knees, his hands together while covering his mouth, and a headband on to keep the hair out of his face as he was intently watching the images on the television screen. My whole body froze at what I saw.

Dakota was watching the security camera feed from the library. I could see me putting books up onto the shelves and working before suddenly jolting and looking around. There was no sound, but I knew what noise had been made since I had been there. I then watched as I grabbed a large book and snuck to the end of the aisle to get a view of the front door. The little me on screen looked around once more before retreating back, going past the cart to the shadows and leaving the aisle through the opposite side that faced away from the door.

A few seconds after, I saw the man with dark hair walk into view while glancing around. Seeing I wasn't there, he grabbed the cart and flung it to the ground. After he left the screen, Dakota waited a moment before switching security tapes and returning to his seat in the same posture after fast-forwarding to the time of the attack.

Now, the man was standing in the open between shelves and in the shadows you could barely make out some movement near the back wall. The man was clearly shouting as he was searching for me, his mouth opening wide while his eyes were in a glare. From the position of the camera, I doubted that Dakota would have to switch tapes again as he intently watched as the man then stopped, turning around to look right at me.

He began to move as I stood and I watched the whole scene play out again from an aerial view rather than from my own two eyes. When the man reached for me, the images suddenly became blurry from how fast I had reacted. I came back into focus as the man flew back, nearly disappearing every time he attacked me and I blocked while counterattacking. Maybe this was why everything seemed to go in slow-motion at the time....

It wasn't until I had grabbed the werewolf's bottom jaw that Dakota noticed me standing there. He had been too focused on what was happening on screen to notice before. His icy eyes glanced back before he quickly paused the tape.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." I mumbled while scratching my arm. "It's almost over by the way." I said while gesturing to the screen that was frozen on the image of the frightened werewolf as he was grabbing my wrists while I seemed to not notice with a blank expression and a glazed look in my eyes. He just hummed in response before rising to his feet. Dakota then headed to the bathroom to shower himself since I had gotten blood on him as well.

Hearing the water running after a moment, I walked over to couch and picked up the remote. I rewound it to a second before the man had found me and pressed play. Now that I was actually in front of the screen, I was able to see some things I missed standing where I had been.

When the werewolf had reached for me, my eyes had flashed silver for a split-second and there was like a faint pulse when my elbow had made contact with the man's ribs just before he flew back. Every time I'd hit him there was that little pulse, and when my back was to the camera when I was grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, I had to pause the tape. Narrowing my eyes, I saw a trail of what looked like red electricity running along my spine. It started at the base of my skull and went all of the way down.

Pressing play again, I watched as I threw the werewolf to the ground. I didn't notice anything else odd until I was ripping his jaws apart. My eyes had flashed silver once more, only staying that color for a whole two seconds. I stopped it after Dakota had showed up on screen and rewound it. I watched it over and over again, trying to figure out _what_ exactly happened.

Right when I was about to watch it again after maybe the hundredth time, arms wrapped around me from behind the couch. I slightly jumped, not expecting the sudden contact, but calmed when I realized it was Dakota.

"The weird thing is...." He began. "This stuff was only picked up on the newer cameras. I had watched all the others before you came in, and there was nothing off about your eyes, attacks, or spine." Looking up as I leaned back on the couch, I listened to what he had to say. "So, I can't tell if you could see it with the naked eye since I wasn't there and the only other witness is....well....you know." He cleared his throat while setting his chin on top of my head.

"Yeah...." 


	12. Well....That Escalated Quickly

A moment of silence passed before he sighed and made me scoot forward. Raising a brow, I watched as the tall man crawled over the back of the couch and sat behind me while seating me between his legs. Dakota made me lean back against his chest as he returned his chin to my head.

"If anything, I think you should ask your grandma about what's going on with you, but figured it out myself while watching this. So, it's up to you if you want to know from me or your grandma-though I'm pretty sure she'd kick my ass for not protecting you from this." His tone was oddly serious and low.

"It would have happened eventually." I told him while shaking my head slowly. "The same thing happened the night my parents died, but I was a kid at the time and I was hidden throughout the entire ordeal." Placing my hands on his arms as they were still holding onto me, I leaned my cheek on one of his biceps while staring at the screen. "I remember it....I couldn't see anything, but I heard it all. I had been the first to sense the danger somehow, and mother quickly hid me in the dumbwaiter in the kitchen. I remember starting to feel....odd after I heard a bunch of crashes and shouting." I paused.

"Being a kid, a was frozen in terror and didn't move, not even when I heard my father scream really loudly. I'm not sure what happened, I just know that there was a lot of shouting and screaming and I stayed in the dumbwaiter for days." Sighing, I looked back to the T.V. screen. "It wasn't until after the police had cleaned up the living room and began searching the rest of the house when they had found me. I had stayed so quiet....so still that no one coming in and out of the house the few days before had noticed I was there. After I finally got out, they said I was in there for around a week and a half-they weren't quite sure-and I strangely hadn't starved or anything...."

"Jesus...." Was all Dakota managed to say.

"In all honesty, I think that guy from the library may have had something to with it because he was looking for _me, _but he kept calling me _Hunter_ and I don't know why." I told him and he hummed in reply, his throat and chest vibrating when he did so.

"Well, like I said earlier, you could either ask me to explain it to you or have your grandma do it." Looking at him from the corner of my vision, I tapped one of my fingers while thinking.

"You tell me." Dakota looked down at me with his icy blues and smirked.

"It'll come at a price."

"...." Biting my bottom lip, I weighed my options. Either wait until God knows when to talk to bunica about it or pay his price and get the information now. "What do you want?" I asked. His smirk grew as he leaned his head down and nuzzled his face into my skin between my neck and shoulder.

"Let me mark you as my mate. It'll also keep most werewolves away by just you having it." Pink tinted my cheeks as he began to purr.

"What.... How would you mark me?"

"I just bite right here." He said, my body shuddering as he licked the sensitive spot on my neck.

"And....if I let you....you'll tell me everything you know?"

"Absolutely." Dakota looked me in the eyes, waiting for my answer. "But it will hurt." Biting my bottom lip again, I nodded.

"Okay, do it." He looked back down to my neck before licking the spot again. Shivering, I felt his chest rumble with a purr as his hands began to move. One of his hands groped my breast while the other placed itself on my inner thigh. Both hands began to roughly massage the flesh underneath as he began to nip at my skin. My cheeks began to heat up, but I dealt with his touch since I figured he was trying to get my attention elsewhere to help with the pain.

My hands balled into fists, gripping the fabric of his shorts as he kept at his teasing and licking. When I began to pant, Dakota began to nip a little harder as the hand on my thigh moved higher up. Letting out shaky breaths, my back arched off of his torso, inadvertently rubbing my ass against his crotch. He let out a soft growl, his teeth sinking into my skin as a mix between a scream and a moan ripped itself from my throat.

My back kept arching due to him licking the bite and I felt something getting hard on my lower back. Biting my lip, I tried to stay still and quiet, but his touch was too much this time around. Moaning, one of my hands went into his long hair and his hands became rough. Suddenly, he stopped and a small growl interrupted his purring.

"Stella....how am I supposed to hold back if you're doing that?" My cheeks flushed as I glanced at him briefly before looking down. _'Oh, my God....'_ I thought while realizing how out of control my body was getting. As I was looking down, I also realized how my legs had unconsciously spread apart while his hand still sat still on my thigh. _'Maybe....'_

"Maybe I don't want you to hold back...." I mumbled. There was a deafening silence before a loud purr erupted from his chest right behind me.

"Fucking finally!" He said under his breath before he began to kiss the side of my neck and his hands began to move again. "Oh, I nearly forgot to ask...." Dakota whispered close to my ear in a husky voice. "Where and how do you want to lose your virginity?"

"...." My cheeks felt like they were on fire. I hadn't really thought about it....

"Come on, you have a lot of options. There's the bed....the couch....Hell, any of the walls or the floor-anywhere works. Also, I can be gentle...." He trailed off while licking the side of my neck. "or rough...." He nipped at the sensitive skin where his bite was. I jolted a little from pleasure and pain. "it's all up to you."

"Can....can we go to the bed?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely." He purred before picking me up bridal style. His lips crashed onto mine as he began to walk towards his room. Shifting in his arms, I put one hand on the back of his head and grabbed his shoulder with the other as he walked through the doorway.

Soon, I felt myself being laid down onto the bed as Dakota crawled on top of me, not breaking our kiss until we- well, I- needed air. He took that time to take his shirt off before going for the one he had let me borrow. Raising my arms, I helped him get it off before his lips were back on my own. His fingers went to the clasp on my bra, slipping it off of my shoulders before he grabbed the shorts I was wearing. In one swift motion, he managed to pull them off along with my underwear and the cool air nipped at my bare skin.

Dakota pulled back, resting on his knees as he looked down at me. Pink dusted his cheeks as he licked his lips like a hungry animal. It wasn't until then that I noticed the growing bulge in his shorts between his legs. Not giving me much time to react, he was back over me, nipping, licking, and kissing down my jaw to my neck and across my collarbone.

Panting, one of my hands tangled in his soft, black hair. It was still damp from his shower, and his hands groped my breasts as his head went lower. He licked my cleavage after he pushed my breasts together and a stifled moan escaped my mouth. Dakota began to nip and tease my nipples with his fingers as the region between my legs was becoming hot.

"D-Dakota...." I stuttered, squirming as I began to feel an odd desire for even more.

"Hmm....am I being too slow for you?" His blue eyes glinted up at me as his sharp teeth reflected the little light coming from the T.V. in the living room. The smirk playing on his lips as he pushed his hair out of his face caused my cheeks to heat up even more. Biting my bottom lip, I covered my face with one of my hands while looking away. Dakota chuckled, his hot breath brushing over my bare skin. "I didn't think you'd be in such a hurry with how much you've been putting this off...." His voice trailed as I felt him shift on the bed. "But I guess it makes sense...."

Feeling his hands grab onto my thighs, I quickly looked back at him and my head felt light as I saw him spreading my legs while he licked his lips again. Dakota leaned down, his eyes flashing to that unnatural yellow-orange as slowly opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue.

"Oh, my Go-!" The rest of my sentence was interrupted by a gasp as my back slightly arched up off of the bed. My fingers tangled into the blanket I laid on as the black haired male began to lick and suck on my clit. Panting, my eyes closed to avoid seeing what all Dakota was doing. Sure, it felt absolutely _wonderful_, but it was so fucking _embarrassing_!

Moaning, I felt one of his hands slide up my thigh, lightly brushing his fingers across my skin. The other hand slid to the back of my leg, going up until it reached my ass. Grabbing it, Dakota began to purr loud enough for me to clearly hear it. The vibrations sent shocks up my spine, causing my body to twitch. The one hand that wasn't on my ass continued to go further up until I felt his fingers joining his tongue.

My grip on the blanket tightened while one of his fingers slipped past my slick folds. My back arched further off of the bed as my head lolled back while a moan ripped itself from my vocal chords. Dakota began to pump his finger in and out as he continued to tease my clit with his tongue. When my hands let go of the bed and fisted in his soft, damp hair, a second finger was added and I began to squirm.

"D-Dakota~!" I moaned, feeling my skin burn with heat while also feeling the euphoric touch of the man between my legs. His hot breath on my crotch made me shudder as his fingers and tongue forced moans from my mouth. My own fingers were tangling into his dark locks as he continued to purr and work on my bundles of nerves.

"Stella...." His voice rumbled, making me clench my jaw to try and stifle another moan. "Why don't you go ahead and cum?" Dakota said, his voice sounding husky as his fingers curled over an extremely sensitive spot inside of me. My head fell back again as I screamed in pleasure, doing as he had asked while my back arched and my body tightened. He groaned, feeling me clench around his fingers as I came undone into his hand.

Panting, my hands slid off of his head and I finally opened my eyes again. _'What is he doing?'_ I thought, hearing a strange noise as I was trying to catch my breath. Looking, I nearly came again just at how god damn sexy the expression on his face was as he was licking his fingers clean and rubbing a hand over the pitched tent in his shorts, all the while he was staring right at me. His cheeks were a darker shade of pink as his ears were absolutely red while he was purring.

"Just so you know, it's inevitable that you'll cum before me since you're a virgin, so don't feel too embarrassed." He purred as his thumbs hooked behind the waistband of his shorts. If possible, my face turned even redder than before. "Get a condom from the drawer." Dakota jerked his head towards the nightstand by the bed. Glancing over at it, I bit my bottom lip and slowly rolled over. Reaching for the drawer, I slightly hesitated while pulling out a little, square package.

Turning back, I sat up while handing it to black haired male that was intently watching me. A smirk played onto his lips as he pushed down his shorts and took the condom from me.

"Good girl. Now, lay back down." I did as I was told, feeling extremely hot while hearing the little package being torn open as I watched Dakota pull down his boxers. I reflexively felt my thighs push together, seeing the erection he had spring up now that it was free from clothing.

"Y-you're going to put _that_ in me?!" I had a slight stutter since I was trying to figure out how a dick that big would possibly fit. What I said only made Dakota smirk again as he slid the condom on.

"I'll take that as a compliment. But don't worry," He chuckled before pouncing on me. "it'll feel _really_ good, trust me." He purred while licking the side of my neck. "Just relax, okay? Only focus on me and the pain will be over quickly." Dakota said lowly against my skin, his lips brushing against my throat as I felt something hot and hard touch my inner thigh. I slightly jolted, but the man above me kept me in place with a passionate kiss as he grabbed the back of my knees and lifted. "Focus." He whispered while hungrily licking his lips while he wrapped my legs around his waist.

Dakota reached down with one hand as he nipped at my collar bone, getting me to pant more while he led his hard member to my entrance. I took in a sharp breath, feeling the tip push past my slick folds. His muscles tensed as if he was holding back as he slowly pushed his way in deeper. Moaning when he wasn't even half-way, I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck as he buried his face into the crook of my neck. One of his large hands grabbed the back of my thigh while the other placed itself on the bed next to my head.

He licked my throat, purring even louder than before. Flinching as a sharp pain itched at the back of my throat, Dakota completely froze. Whispering as his voice sounded slightly strained, his hair tickled as it brushed against my skin.

"Tell me when I can keep going. Don't be scared to tell me if it hurts." Nodding to him, I took deep breaths as I waited until the discomfort between my legs went away. Dakota kept nipping at me and licking, being as patient as possible with me.

"Okay...." I panted. "You....you can move no- Ahh~!" Being cut off by my own moan, I felt Dakota slowly begin to grind his hips against mine. Having my hands on his back, I could feel the muscles rolling under his skin as he was slowly and gently thrusting his hips. My moans were mixing with pants as he groaned and purred. "Dakota~!" I moaned.

Said male sharply jerked his pelvis forward upon hearing his name, causing me to moan even louder that before. That was when he began to pick up the pace, going harder and faster as his teeth scraped over my skin. I felt myself flinch around his hard dick as I moaned, eliciting a pleased groan from the man above me. My back was arching towards him as the grip he had on my thigh tightened.

"Fuck~!" I cried, finding that it and his name were the only words I was able to form at the time. "Ahh~ Fuck~!" Panting, my nails began to dig into his back and he thrusted harder, ramming his hips into mine. Being filled and stretched in such a way was making my mind cloudy and my body to move on its own. My hips began to buck as my back arched off of the bed, pressing my breasts against his chest as he sucked and licked and nipped at the skin on the side of my neck.

My legs tightened around his waist as a heavy feeling began to well up in my lower gut. Dakota's hand on my thigh seemed like he was trying to pull me closer to himself as he thrusted and groaned into my skin. His voice was absolutely driving me crazy while his pants mingled with my own and our moans filled the dark room. Dakota's hips were picking up speed, pushing me over the edge even quicker as I began to scream with pleasure and dig my nails into his back.

"Stella~!" He groaned, lightly biting my shoulder. Unable to endure it any longer, my head fell back as I screamed, feeling the heavy pressure in my lower gut releasing as I tightened around Dakota's cock and shuddered. My vision went dark as I saw stars, still having Dakota thrusting roughly into me as I rode out my orgasm.

He groaned and kept going while I felt a hot liquid running down my buttocks as he thrusted. Dakota was snapping his pelvis into me, his fingers digging into my thigh as his hot breath came in quick bursts against my shoulder. My body seemed even more sensitive now that I had just climaxed as my toes curled and I kept moaning. Dakota was pushing me to the edge again as he was still trying to hit his high. My mouth hung open, drool leaking from the side as I was moaning and calling his name over and over again.

"Dakota~! Ahh~! Fuck, Dakota~! Ahhh~!" With my voice slowly gaining volume like before, it was one of the indicators that I was about to cum again. Another indicator was the way my body was flinching and tightening around Dakota. Raking my nails down his back, he nipped and sucked at the flesh against his lips, going roughly as I obviously enjoyed this pace of fucking. His purring mixed with his groans was driving me on, causing me to moan some more in pleasure at the pure intoxication his touch was giving me.

It was the second time that I had release that Dakota finally came. He grunted, shoving his pulsing cock all the way in until he got to the hilt, giving shallow thrusts until his whole body tensed up. The hand on the bed by my head clenched into a fist as Dakota groaned.

"Oh, fuck~!" He panted, riding out his orgasm as he prolonged my own. Screaming in pleasure again, I felt my whole body shudder. Breathing heavily, Dakota and I slowly began to relax, still holding tightly onto each other. "God, Stella...." His voice was low as he swallowed. "You have absolutely no idea how long I've been waiting for this...." When leaned back to look down at me, his face was completely flushed and sweat was dripping from his brow. "Why didn't I get the balls to ask you out sooner?" He chuckled while shaking his head.

~

"So...." I cleared my throat, sitting up on the edge of the bed while wearing one of his t-shirts and nothing more. "Um, and about what happened to me at the library?" Questioning with a raised brow, I took the glass of water Dakota was holding out to me. He had pulled his shorts back on by now, and scratched his bare stomach as he plopped down next to me.

"Well, for starters, it's safe to assume that you, at least one of your parents, and your grandmother fall into a subcategory of the _Homo _genus that is broken into various different species, and I don't mean the _sapien_ one." Dakota began as I took a drink from the cup and listened while still feeling slightly buzzed from what we had done not too long ago. "For example, I would scientifically be categorized as _Homo lupus_ since I'm a werewolf and not a real human. You, on the other hand, would be _Homo venator_, which is just a hair from being your run of the mill human."

"Uh-huh....and what the **_Hell_** is _Homo venator_?" I asked, curling my fingers around the cool glass in my hands.

"Well, that guy kept calling you '_Hunter_' for a reason, it's what you are in layman's terms." He replied, putting his hands together as his elbows rested on his thighs. "Like the name implies, your species hunt, but what they hunt is more along the lines of other _Homo_ subspecies rather than animals. I'm not sure how your kind evolved, but it was most likely due to the imbalance from the normal humans versus us more powerful types. Hunters instinctively sought out all of the other subspecies to either kill or feed off of them like any other predator would, and it sort of brought the scale back into balance. Though, due to the power that Hunters possessed, the other species began to dwindle in numbers- even driving a few types extinct- and it soon became public knowledge that Hunters existed since their predatory instincts began to target humans. Though, back then, Hunters were considered witches and I think you know how that ended."

"So....you're telling me there's more out there than just werewolves?" My brows knit together as I looked at the dark haired male.

"Tons more."


End file.
